Businesses are finding it difficult to keep up with the rapid evolution of the customer experience industry. In fact, there has been such a significant shift in recent years that Gartner had to broaden its definition of customer experience management (CXM).
Consumer Communication Management (CCM) platforms are expanding in tandem. From their inception, they have been used to centrally store important data like statements, bills, regulations, and notifications. These platforms must go beyond document communications for operational and financial documents as CXM progresses. Businesses must control communications and interactions at each crucial stage of the client lifecycle if they want to keep up.
The Cloud can Overcome Legacy Lag
Businesses are releasing more and more that they require from their CCM platform a vision that is increasingly customer-centric and comprehensive. Nevertheless, in actuality, they are being slowed down by old systems. Providing optimized experiences can be challenging because it can take time for existing on-premise platforms to update.
This is where the cloud may significantly alter things by injecting much-needed flexibility and fluidity. The pandemic’s impact on technological advancements has been well-documented. In the context of customer experience, this has taken the form of a move to CCM platforms that use the Communications as a Service (CaaS) model, which supports broader CXM initiatives.
Several service providers have switched in recent years from installing software on-premise to cloud-based solutions in an effort to gain access to the following major advantages:
1. Rapid transformation: Cloud platforms can be changed in a matter of days, as opposed to on-premise systems, which may take 12 to 18 months.
2. Get more agile: The cloud enables teams to interact effectively and securely from anywhere in the world, resulting in seamless customer experiences.
3. Grow easily: Cloud-based services have the benefit of flexibility, allowing companies of all sizes to grow and scale.
4. Minimize IT overheads: On-premise deployments result in more overhead, additional maintenance, and overworked IT employees. The service provider installs and maintains cloud-native environments, freeing up IT employees from this labor-intensive task. Moreover, managed services guarantee that platform updates and bug fixes are carried out automatically and without the need for company intervention on a regular basis.
A perfect storm?
This transition has been significantly influenced by the pandemic. The customer experience industry was already undergoing a revolution, but Covid-19 has compelled companies of all sizes to enhance digital experiences for both clients and staff. Businesses have also been compelled to adopt remote workforces and all the technologies required to make them possible.
According to a recent Forrester analysis, CaaS and SaaS made it possible for millions of employees to migrate to remote work overnight during the pandemic, enhancing customer contacts and preserving global supply chains.
When the pandemic initially began, corporate leaders would have placed maintaining customer experience high on their list of responsibilities in addition to “keeping the lights on” in the literal sense. According to a recent survey by Aspire, customer experience is quickly displacing other corporate priorities, with more than 61% of respondents ranking it as the top priority.
Businesses that switch to CaaS may simply create new customer experience solutions with the speed and agility required to provide superior customer value and spur innovation.
It can take longer than a year to adopt land-and-expand models, which test different CCM platforms and build on the most effective one. Cloud-native solutions, on the other hand, can be set up in a matter of days. Since the differences between businesses that have adopted cloud technologies and those that have not are becoming more apparent, Forrester predicts that there will be a “more aggressive migration to the cloud,” which will result in increased corporate adoption and higher business value.
Ready for the Next Step
Going ahead, there is an increasing tendency towards using a microservice-based strategy for customer communication and segmenting services into smaller components. The ideal way to do this is in a cloud environment, which eliminates silos and increases team agility from any location.
Because of the power of the cloud, staff can communicate with customers in real time, developing fantastic relationships and increasing customer loyalty. Businesses that adapt to the shift to CaaS will see an increase in revenue and customer loyalty, whereas those that don’t risk falling behind and finding it difficult to meet the needs of their clients in the long run.
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